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#267 Water In, Water Out

Energy Drinks: Do They Really Give You Wings?

By Steve Edwards

Energy drinks have taken over the soft drink market in a caffeine-fueled frenzy. To listen to their ad campaigns, you'd be sure that this has everything to do with your health. Now instead of leaving the convenience store with a gut bomb, you can grab a Monster can of Adrenaline that promises to Redline your performance until you're partying like a Rockstar. But do energy drinks really give you wings? Or are you more likely to experience a fleeting glimpse of euphoria, only to come crashing down like Icarus?

Since Red Bull entered the U.S. market in 1997, energy drinks have been chipping away at the soft drink and bottled water companies' stranglehold. According to an article in The New York Times, energy drinks have now surpassed bottled water as the fastest growing category of beverages. This isn't to say that they're hurting the soda companies, because pretty much everyone now makes an energy drink, from Hansen's to Steven Seagal. Despite a slew of drinks with far more provocative names such as Who's Your Daddy?, Cocaine, Whoopass, and Beaver Buzz, the industry leader is still Red Bull sales, not profits, are projected over $3 billion this year.

The where? And why?

Energy drinks have been around for decades, particularly in Asia and mainly in Japan. They weren't soft drinks like they are today. Instead, they were small vials of liquid promising to promote performance. These vials were usually filled with caffeine, many herbs containing caffeine, and some vitamins. Their target audience was businessmen, to aid their long work schedules.

Red Bull took its name and certain ingredients from a Thai supplement. They watered it down and added sugar so that it could be consumed as a soft drink, targeting the under-30 crowd, and voilà, a new market was formed. Pretty much everyone has jumped on the bandwagon. The more consumer-friendly varieties tend to be larger and resemble soft drinks, but there are still some aimed at more "sports-specific" audiences, like bodybuilders and ravers. These will often come in a smaller package resembling the vials that you get overseas, which are probably more suitable for those who want to feel as though they're doing something illegal.

The what?

So what's in the stuff that makes it so special and, even more importantly, is it special? The ingredients vary, but there is one constant: caffeine. No matter what any energy drink professes, its secret ingredient is caffeine. Many contain various forms of caffeine, like guarana, yerba maté, and tea, but caffeine is the business they're in. Everything else is a side dish.

As an example, let's take a closer look at Red Bull's active ingredients.

Sucrose, glucose. Like most soft drinks, the number one ingredient, by far, is sugar (check out this article for "6 Foods with Hidden Sugar"). This is where all of the calories come from in a Red Bull. Sugar provides an instant energy rush, but its effects are anything but energizing after only a few minutes. A study conducted at the Sleep Research Centre at Loughborough University in the United Kingdom exemplified exactly the opposite of this instant energy-rush effect. The study showed that a high-sugar and low-caffeine energy drink would promote sleepiness, not energy.

"Energy drinks are a misnomer," reported Lona Sandon, an assistant professor of clinical nutrition at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, to HealthDay News. "Sure, they provide energy in the form of calories, usually from some form of a simple sugar, but simple sugars are digested, absorbed, and metabolized very quickly, so the energy they contain doesn't last long."

Sodium citrate. A food additive or preservative, usually added because of its tart flavor. However, it's also alkaline and inhibits blood clotting. Because it's an effective buffering agent, it may help you utilize other nutrients better. A British study in 2003 also showed that it improved running times. However, in this study, the amount used was 37 grams. Since a Red Bull's only measurable ingredient is 27 grams of sugar (not counting the water), it's unlikely that the amount of sodium citrate will add any noticeable velocity to your wing speed.

Taurine. Originally came from bull bile, which is where Red Bull got its name. Now it's synthesized and, of all the ingredients in a Red Bull, the least understood. While it's associated with many benefits—and some dangers—virtually nothing is proven other than it being essential for your cat's health. In the energy drink world, some studies showing that it could reduce muscle fatigue are the most promising. Studies have concluded, however, that it is not an energy enhancer.

Glucuronolactone. A naturally occurring chemical compound produced by glucose metabolism in the liver. Because it was once rumored (now disproved) to be linked with brain tumors during the Vietnam era, it was not a popular ingredient, until Red Bull used it due to its reputation for improving memory retention and concentration. Years later, there is still no conclusive proof, but it's become a popular ingredient in energy drinks across the board.

Caffeine. Now here's the business. Caffeine is a plant alkaloid found in over 60 species of plants such as guarana, kola nut, maté, tea, and, of course, coffee. Over 19,000 studies have been done on caffeine and most of them have been positive—the truly dangerous conclusions drawn by some studies have yet to be proven. The upside is so well known that there's no need to go into it. Caffeine is now arguably more popular than ever and it's estimated that 90 percent of American adults consume it in some form. But this is nothing new, it's been used as a stimulant for as long as we've been recording history (and perhaps it's even the cause of us recording history).

Caffeine is not without its downside. Too much can make you jittery, anxious, unable to sleep, and even paranoid. It increases the production of stomach acid and can lead to an assortment of ailments. It's also addicting and those who drink caffeine daily will suffer withdrawal symptoms if they can't get it. It has a toxic dosage, but it's so high that death by caffeine is highly unlikely, if not altogether impossible, unless consumed in its pure form. It is worth noting that over a certain amount (the average being around 400 mg—three or four cups of coffee), caffeine intoxication may occur, which is an unpleasant condition that may include heart palpitations, irritability, anxiousness, and insomnia. For more on caffeine and coffee, read "Nutrition 911, Part VIII: Coffee—Friend or Foe?"

Inositol. I'm only going to go into this ingredient enough to show why many ingredients are added to supplements and drinks—only for show. Inositol, as a supplement, has some promising science behind it, but you would need to drink approximately 350 Red Bulls—enough to kill you from caffeine intoxication—to get the dosage used in the studies. Therefore, its inclusion here is to merely sound important. This is similar to many "teas" and other convenience store elixirs that tout important-sounding ingredients on the label but only contain trace amounts of those ingredients.

How much?

Here we refer to both the amount of ingredients and the cost of such ingredients. Energy drinks are expensive and, given the amount you get of each ingredient, you'd better really like the way they taste. If not, you're being ripped off.

Let's start with sugar. First off, sugar is not performance enhancing, so paying extra for it makes little sense. If you want sugar, buy something that tastes good. Many energy drinks are also made with artificial sweeteners which are exactly the same low-grade additives that you can get in a can of Big K diet soda for 25 cents.

Caffeine is cheap, as is coffee, and the average cup of coffee has three times more caffeine than the average energy drink. There are whole Web sites set up to help you do the math on this. One such site, Energyfiend.com, lists the milligrams of caffeine per ounce contained in each energy drink. The more commercial brands, like Rockstar and Red Bull, have far less than some of the more esoteric brands. But nothing, except the one-ounce caffeine shots, beats a good old cup o' joe.

While the above-listed ingredients are the flagship ingredients of promotion, they aren't added in amounts that are effective. If you like the science behind taurine or inositol, you're better off buying it in bulk and then drinking plain coffee or tea.

So will they give me wings?

While there is little doubt you will gain a burst of energy from these drinks, it's unlikely to be sustained energy. Furthermore, the type of rush you get will be followed with a crash that will make you crave more. Because these have very little nutrient value, chances are that consumption of more than a couple will leave you feeling edgy or downright irritable.

Energy drinks may have a place in your diet, but with proper fueling and regular exercise, like with Hip Hop Abs™ Dance Party Series or Yoga Booty Ballet®, you are unlikely to need them regularly, if ever. We tend to be low on energy because we make poor food choices, sleep too little, exercise too little, and stress too much. No drug can offset this behavior except during the short term. Energy drinks should be nothing but an emergency solution.

And when you want to party like a Rockstar?

A popular use of energy drinks is as a cocktail mixer. Bars commonly promote such concoctions and energy drink companies often sponsor social gatherings. While mixing stimulants and depressants has been common among the partying sect for a long time, that doesn't make it safe. A 2006 study found a possible link between energy drinks and seizures, and research shows that combining heavy stimulants with heavy depressants could lead to heart failure. Remember that all rock stars don't make it through their partying years.

How to best enhance your energy

Your lifestyle has more to do with your energy level than anything else. Consistent and intense exercise keeps your hormones working in balance and your body on an even keel. A proper diet with plenty of fiber, protein, vitamins, and good fatty acids that's supported by plenty of fresh water will give you long-term sustained energy. Finally, getting ample sleep helps you recover from the stress and breakdown of everyday life (read my "10 Tips for Restful Sleep"). This is your real Pimp Juice if you want to keep your Diesel engine going Full Throttle all day, even if you've got to catch a Red Eye.

The Sweatiest Thing

By Joe Wilkes

Perspiration, or sweating, is an important and unavoidable part of any decent workout. In fact, you'll find plenty of workout titles in the Beachbody catalog that contain the word "sweat." So why are we trying to make you sweat so much and what does sweat do for us anyway? Why is it that some of us sweat more than others and what can we do to lessen sweat's smelly sidekick, body odor?

A tale of two glands

The human body contains about 2.8 million sweat glands, a complex subcutaneous misting system that operates all day, all night, over almost every inch of your body, to help keep you cool. Even if you think you're not sweating, you are—the amount of fluid is just so small that it evaporates almost immediately.

There are two general types of sweat glands: eccrine glands and apocrine glands. The eccrine glands are the most common ones. They excrete water with a little bit of sodium pretty much any place you have skin. This is the sweat on your palms, your feet, and your face, and the sweat that pours out in buckets after a good Hip Hop Abs™ workout. The apocrine glands are located primarily under your arms and in the genital area. In addition to water and saline, the apocrine glands also excrete small amounts of fat and protein. This is what turns the armpits of your T-shirts yellow. (There is also a third type of sweat gland, the ceruminous gland, that produces ear wax, and is located in, duh, your ear).

Sweat itself is odorless—it's the bacteria on your skin that causes body odor. When fat and protein are excreted by the apocrine glands, they are metabolized by the bacteria, creating that unpleasant, all-too-familiar odor. Our apocrine glands don't usually get fired up until adolescence, which explains why little kids can run around and get all sweaty without smelling much worse. It's also why teenagers and adults can benefit from antiperspirants and deodorants, while they don't do anything for children.

It's getting hot in here . . .

There are three basic reasons we sweat: it's hot out, our nervous system is in overdrive, or we've just created extra body heat through muscle exertion. You can probably guess which one is preferable.

Baby, it's hot outside. It's actually the process of evaporation that causes sweat to cool our skin, not the sweat itself. That's why when we're someplace with a 100-degree dry heat, we may feel cooler than someplace that's 85 degrees with 90 percent humidity. When the air is so saturated with water that it can't absorb moisture from our body, we just end up being hot and wet. Whereas in dry heat, we get the millions of cooling evaporation reactions all over our body, and thus, we're more comfortable. It's important to remember to replenish your fluids when you're outside in the heat. Even if you're not sweating puddles, the heat may be sucking the water out of your body without you noticing. So, it's always good to have a bottle of water handy on a hot day. Here are "10 Reasons Why You Need to Drink Water."

Is it hot in here, or is it just me? It might just be you. There are a lot of neurological reasons that excessive sweating, or diaphoresis, can occur unrelated to the temperature outside or your level of physical activity. For example, that meth addict sweating at the bus stop probably didn't just get back from a brisk jog. Certain substances like drugs, alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine can cause sweating, as can the withdrawal of the same. More innocent foods, especially of the spicy or garlicky variety, can also kick your glands into gear. Then there's flop sweat, as immortalized by Albert Brooks in Broadcast News and Richard Nixon in his infamous 1960 presidential debate. Flop sweat happens because sometimes it's just enough for the heat to be "metaphorically" on. Your sweat glands can overreact to fear in the same way that your heart beats more rapidly and your breathing increases when confronted with stress. This is why measuring increases in sweat production is a main component in lie detection. Underlying medical conditions can also cause sweating for no apparent reason.

The sweetest sweat. But the best sweat is the sweat you make the old-fashioned way . . . you burn it. When you exert your muscles, your body heats up and burns calories, and your sweat glands kick in to help put out the fire. If you aren't sweating more than usual, you probably aren't getting the most out of your workout. How much should you be sweating and how much is too much? The answer to that varies wildly from person to person. The amount we sweat can be affected by diet, medications, emotions, and genetics. The important thing is that you're sweating more than usual. That means your body's kicked it into a higher gear and results should be forthcoming. You can sweat out up to a liter of fluid at a time, so it's important to hydrate with water before and after a workout—and during it, too, if it's a long one.

Getting sweaty, not smelly

Sweating during exercise can refresh, invigorate, and detoxify, as well as potentially cause extreme olfactory discomfort for the people in your general vicinity. The good news is that sweat itself is odorless. It's essentially just water and salt. The sweat from the apocrine glands in the armpits and genital area adds a little extra fat and protein to the mix, which the bacteria on your skin will metabolize, creating a less-than-refreshing aroma. So once your workout's over, the clock is ticking. It's a race against time between you and the bacteria on your skin. The sooner you hit the showers after a workout, the better chance you have of not leaving a malodorous scent in your wake. Deodorants can help mask the scent and antiperspirants contain aluminum compounds that can cause your sweat glands to close, but they really only make about a 20- to 30-percent difference. Also, contrary to some rumors, antiperspirants are generally considered safe.

Pay attention to the smells that are coming out of your body, though. They could be telling you something. For instance, if your sweat smells of ammonia during a long workout, it is likely due to your muscles breaking down, which generally means you are under-fueled. An ammonia smell could also be an indication of liver or kidney disease. And if your sweat has a sweet, fruity smell, it could be a symptom of diabetes. It might be worth reporting any change in body odor to your physician, as well as any change in the amount you sweat or when you sweat. For example, if you experience night sweats, cold sweats, or excessive sweating for no reason, your body might be sending you a message to get medical attention.